Takeaways: A costly night for Cal Bears has season in danger
After loss to ASU and injury to Chase Garbers, Cal will head to Oregon in suddenly precarious position.
BERKELEY — Cal coach Justin Wilcox was terse. Linebacker Evan Weaver was frustrated. And quarterback Chase Garbers was in the trainer’s room.
It all came apart for the No. 15 Bears on Friday night in a 24-17 loss to Arizona State in front of 47,532 fans at Memorial Stadium.
Cal (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) lost for the first time, but how it happened and what happens next are the bigger issues.
Garbers left the game with just under two minutes left in the first half after crashing hard to the turf. He returned to the sidelines midway through the third quarter with his right arm in a sling.
Wilcox offered no details as to the nature or severity of the injury afterward. “We’ll know more on Monday. I haven’t been in the training room yet,” he said.
In his place, UCLA transfer Devon Modster got virtually nothing done on offense. The Bears ran the ball 12 straight times to take a 14-7 lead in the third quarter, then went in front 17-14 on a field goal following a four-play drive that covered zero yards.
Wilcox was more disappointed in how the Bears played defensively, and he got no argument from Weaver.
“We played horrible,” Weaver said.
And now the Bears must resolve their issues before next Saturday’s road matchup with an Oregon team they have beaten only once in the last 10 meetings.
Here are the takeaways:
Garbers’ loss would be huge: Coming off a career-best 357-yard, four-touchdown performance the previous week at Ole Miss, Garbers was 9 for 12 for 117 yards with a first-quarter touchdown pass to Trevon Clark before his injury.
Without him, the offense mostly skidded to a halt. In the fourth quarter, four Cal possessions netted a total of 11 yards and no first downs.
Modster, seeing his first extended action after being cleared to play just a week earlier, struggled to make anything happen. He was 5 for 14 passing for 23 yards and was intercepted in the end zone with 10 seconds left in the first half.
“Honestly, I think I played terrible. Can play a lot better. I’ll pick it up next week,” Modster said. “It doesn’t hurt my confidence. I know what I’m capable of. Just got to grind next week and prepare for Oregon.”
Wilcox provided a gentler evaluation.
“Did all right — not the easiest of situations. Being the backup quarterback, that’s what you’ve got to do,” Wilcox said. “I think Devon can play better and he will, if need be.”
Bad night from the defense: Cal escaped Ole Miss with a victory last week but the Bears tackled poorly and allowed 525 yards. This time, those issues contributed to their first defeat.
Wilcox pulled no punches. “We did a really poor job on defense. That’s one of the things we did poorly, but that was evident,” he said. “We tackled poorly and the yards after contact are not going to be good again.”
The Bears could not contain freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels, who passed for 174 yards but was most effective when he escaped the pocket to run for 84 yards.
“When he buys time in the pass game and you’re in zone coverage, it’s hard to cover for eight seconds if you don’t get to the quarterback and keep him in the cage,” Wilcox said.
Turning the page: Weaver, who had 15 tackles, issued strong words to his teammates about putting this game in the past and being ready to prep for a tough game at Oregon.
“If guys aren’t ready to work, then I don’t want them to be here,” he said.
Weaver said the Bears did not deserve to win the game, stressing they cannot afford to let this defeat fester.
“Because at this point if you’re just going to be down like that, there’s no reason to show up because then that’s a carrying-on mentality and that’s what these last three seasons have been about,” he said. “We lose a game, we fall of a cliff. We can’t do that this year and we won’t.”
That has been the trend for the Bears, though. They have started 3-0 the past two seasons and then lost three in a row.